Hiking NY: Backpacking a Section of the Finger Lakes Trail

I took my first backpacking trip of the season last weekend with 2 friends and we had a great time! We did a section of the Finger Lakes Trail in central southern NY. We hiked through the Klipnocky and Bully Hill States Forests, staying one night in a lean to (my first time!)

Total of 14.3 miles and 1975ft elevation gain. We started at the top and headed south.

This is my gear for the trip (minus clothes). After I loaded everything into my pack for the trip--including 2L of water--I am VERY proud to say my pack weight was 23lb!! This is a new low for me, especially considering just a year and half ago on my very first trip my pack weight was over 40lb. On my last trip I believe it was around 28lb, and even just 5lb less I could tell a difference in how my body felt carrying it several miles.

There wasn't really any "parking" for the trail access points. I parked on the side of the road somewhere, and Courtney parked on the grass at the other end and climbed over an electric fence and started hiking through someone's farm fields!

We had perfect weather that day and great views of the hillside. Courtney signed us in at all the trail registers we came across. Evidently we were right behind "Mac" for our hike. He had signed in right before us each time, but was heading for a different lean to.

We didn't see another soul on the trail, and had the shelter all to ourselves! It was right next to a creek and that made for a very nice background that evening. We all 3 set up our beds in the shelter, then collected firewood to get a fire going.

We all brought our stoves, and cooked dinner together on our "table". Kate harvested some wild ramps (onions) that we diced up with our knives and added to our meals. Yum!

9pm is backpacker's midnight, so we enjoyed watching the fire burn while the sun set as we settled down for bed.

We took our time getting around the next morning and after breakfast and coffee we hit the trail again for another 7 miles. The trail started out with some major elevation gain!

Kate has a geology degree, and found this awesome rocks with fossil imprints to show us in a creek!

After a few miles we found a nice big fallen log in the forest for us to rest and get lunch on! Nothing better than a bbq pulled pork sandwich on the trail!

A couple of miles from the end, some rain moved in and a light showers cooled us off the rest of the way back to the car. It was neat to watch the clouds moving through the hills and valleys.

We had a great time and felt accomplished after finishing the trail in good time!

Check back soon...I have more adventures coming!

Mother's Day and Catching Up

This past Sunday was Mother's Day, and I was showered with gifts from my boys! Jacob's teacher helped him make a bookmark, card with a picture, an About Me, and a colored teapot with a bag of green tea. Bradley colored a frame for me with a nice picture in it. Nick got me some chocolates and 2 herbal bath salts!

I got my own little trinket to help with the impending warm days!

Spring is here, and that means gardening! I've been hard at work in my flower beds and rose garden trying to bring them to life and keep up with the weeds. I am also able to start harvesting some herbs! Here I have plantain and purple dead nettle drying to use in salves.

Here is my rose garden. The roses have all been pruned and are just now waking up. While they wake up, I get to enjoy the daffodils and tulips!

Lots of pretty violets from the yard.

And of course my Cuddles. He's such a cheeseball.

I haven't said much about it....but I am now officially unemployed! For a few weeks at least. In a nutshell, my ICU is closing and we all got divided up between different hospitals. Instead of continuing to commute 50+ miles each way to Buffalo, I opted to take a layoff/resign. That's where it gets interesting....

My original plan was to just enjoy the summer off then look for a more local job maybe in August. Well shortly after my job announced they were closing, I saw a post in a Facebook hiking group I'm in looking for staff for a summer camp in the Adirondacks. That included a camp nurse! How coincidental. Long story short I replied to the ad, and I am now the summer Health Center Director this year the Woodcraft Camp in Old Forge, NY. How exciting!! The camp is 8 weeks long, but I will miss 3 weeks in July for a family vacation we already had planned.

I had already intended to spend a lot of time this summer hiking and backpacking, so now I still get to do that, plus earn money! It will almost be a vacation since my room and meals are covered, PLUS the boys get to go to camp for FREE for 2 weeks! We are all very excited. I will of course take pictures and post updates.

Stay tuned, I've got a summer full of fun scheduled!

6 Years Young!

Yesterday my littlest little turned 6 years old! We threw him a special birthday celebration here at home and of course the birthday boy got to pick his favorite dinner and cake! For dinner he chose chili dogs with mac and cheese, and he requested a homemade carrot cake with ice cream. Yum!

He's really into Minecraft right now, so we made that the theme of the party. 

The only gift he asked for was a remote control truck, so of course we had to get him one! He loved it and played with it all evening. He also got some other Minecraft toys and shirts, plus money from family.

Hopefully next birthday he can invite some of his school friends to celebrate with him. Speaking of school...as of this week the boys are in class 4 days a week!!! That's the most since March 2020!! Progress.

Hiking NY: Darien Lake State Park Loop

Yesterday my mini me and I took our first 2021 hike together! My growing boy need new hiking shoes, and the pair I had ordered online (along with my new pair!) ended being too small for him. Luckily I was able to find a larger pair in a different brand at Sierra Trading Post that he loves! My new pair is from Decathlon and are the prettiest aqua 😍

For our hike on a beautiful 80° day, I chose a new trail at Darien Lake State Park. The trail I found on AllTrails called the Conservation Trail to Gasline Trail Loop. It was only about 3.6 miles with minimal elevation gain, and was just right to get warmed up. 

There were 2 creek crossings that we had to navigate, and one of them involved a tricky rock that slipped and submerged my whole foot. My shoes were champs and the wet foot didn't bother me the rest of the hike.

The trees aren't leafed out yet so we got a lot of sun! Thankfully that also helped minimize the mud we encountered.

In the end, we were both very satisfied with our new hiking shoes and Brad is very excited about going on many adventures with his momma this summer!!

Easter Fun

We had a lovely Easter celebration here at the Pierce household! The festivities were held a day early since I had to work on the holiday.

The boys woke up to their baskets filled with treats and toys. You can see they are very impressed.

I cooked a delicious dinner for us in the afternoon! Glazed spiral sliced ham, Hawaiian rolls, deviled eggs, mashed potatoes with gravy, macaroni and cheese, steamed corn, and brownies for desert.

After we all digested our big meal for a bit, Nick and I hid the eggs outside and set the boys loose finding them. Thankfully we had beautiful weather and only 1 egg was unaccounted for! They added all the treats to their basket and spent the rest of the day in a chocolate coma.

Even though it's only early April, spring is in full force here in Western NY! I just know another sneaky cold blast will be around the corner, so I've refrained from planting any flowers or veggies just yet. I have however gotten a head start on pruning all my fruit trees/bushes, rose garden, and flower beds! Maybe I'll actually keep up with it all this year....

I hope your Easter was great with family quality time and good food.